Because of what transpired in their matchup, the New Jersey Devils announced their firing of
Lindy Ruff will be the head coach of the New Jersey Devils in 2022-2023. The club this season has surpassed both teams’ winning percentages and point totals before the trade deadline, following two terrible seasons.
Since Ruff has been the head coach, he deserves to be commended for the remarkable improvement. Later this year, when the Jack Adams Trophy is decided, I’m sure there will be at least some discussion and votes for Ruff.
But one thing Ruff lacks is a stable future. Lindy Ruff was given a three-season contract by the Devils when they announced that they had hired him and removed General Manager Tom Fitzgerald’s interim tag.
The third season is this one. Ruff is no longer in effect. The most recent story I could locate on that was this November NJ.com article by Ryan Novozinsky, unless I missed it. Fitzgerald said the following:
Fitzgerald declared, “I’m not going to discuss his contract with anybody.
“”There is a reason Lindy is here. I gave a detailed explanation of those reasons to all of them right away, along with the reasons why we wanted him to take on this role as coach given his background, his accomplishments in the past, Buffalo, and his younger guys in Dallas, who had become explosive offensive players. He was the person because of this. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing now.
I would like to assume that the team’s record indicates that he was the right guy.
However, after this season, his contract will expire. It’s not as though the Devils are opposed to in-season talks or extending managers who don’t have much success—this is an organization that awarded John Hynes a contract during the midst of a disappointing 2018–19 campaign.
Ruff has not been extended unless anything occurs immediately before this post is published. This seems strange to me, considering how well this season is starting out. This prompts me to pose this crucial query: After this season, who should take over as head coach of the New Jersey Devils?
(Aside: Considering this query is a pleasant diversion from considering possible transactions.)
Lindy Ruff, the incumbent, is in favor of: The simple response to the query is Lindy Ruff. Why not? Even though the first two seasons weren’t great, Ruff’s third season has been incredibly successful.
It was hoped that the Devils would merely participate in a few key games in March and spend some time, if not permanently, in the postseason bubble. In actuality, the Devils might be able to secure home ice in their postseason first-round meeting.
Not less than against our hated rivals. The 2022–23 Devils have already eclipsed the unsuccessful season of the previous year by 16 points as of this Wednesday. It might be more than twice as much by the conclusion of the season.
